#(YUKI VOICE YELLING INTO THE DISTANCE 'I WON'T LET YOU---------') | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tardytothepardy · 3 years ago

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Fruits Basket - Vol 21

"What do you have there?"

"A knife!"

"NO-"

That's probably all I can say about this one lmao

Kyo's still thinking back to when he met Kyoko, and how he felt about her as a kid. It was strange to him, in a way, but very welcoming, because unlike the majority of people around him, she treated him like a spunky kiddo(that's what she called him because he never told her his name) who seemed to have a hard life, but still seemed nice. In other words, Kyoko treated him kindly, something that Kyo had only experienced with Kazuma, which is extremely heartbreaking, oh my god.

But that only made what happened later hurt that much more, when she died. He heard her say that she won't forgive him, and those words have stuck with him to this day. After Kyoko's death, Kazuma took Kyo to the mountains, "to train". There wasn't much training, honestly, because Kyo was thrown into the depths of just,, self-hatred, mourning, regret, all of it. The only way he could get out of it was to place blame elsewhere, and that elsewhere was Yuki. It was easy, to be expected, almost encouraged in a way. It's not even that Yuki did anything in particular (I doubt they were even around each other enough for Yuki to actually do anything to Kyo), it's just that it was easier. And that helped Kyo enough that Kazuma let him return back home, which is around the time that Tohru showed up at Shigure's house, and the start of the series. When Kyo first saw Tohru, he couldn't believe it. He just wasn't allowed to forget what had happened, was he? It was interesting, in a way, to finally meet the girl that Kyoko was always talking about, to finally hear her voice rather than a picture, anecdotes, and a lonesome dinner. But it also hurt. In the end, he says he won't forgive himself, and he doesn't expect Tohru to forgive him either, for holding all of this back.

Tohru doesn't like that though, only having those two options: to forgive or not. It's really not that simple. She doubts that her mom meant that, "I won't forgive you", because she wasn't that kind of person, and even if she did mean it, Tohru's going against it, because her love for Kyo overpowers her love for her mom. She screams at him that she loves him, regardless of all of that. It doesn't matter dude! He can't believe it though, and he runs off, with Yuki, who overheard a portion of all of this, chasing after Kyo, with the spirit of "jfc you fucking moron get back here".

Oh remember Akito? And how she was thinking about Tohru? And how she has a knife? Well, she just entered the chat. 🔪🔪

She enters the chat by vaguely saying that the curse is breaking, to Tohru, who at the moment is partially occupied with thinking how fucking miserable Kyo looked before he ran off, but now Akito's here. (That sounds bad, like a "now Tohru has to deal with Akito 🙄" thing, that's not really what I mean. Tohru's just going through a few things at the moment) She asks Tohru if she's happy now, now that Akito has became the outsider, the loner, the bad guy, after waltzing into her life (and the lives of the Sohmas) and completely disrupting it, without a speck of dirt on her hands. Tohru's putting two and two together and steps toward Akito, asking if she was there the whole time (at this point Tohru did not know Akito had a knife), and oh jeez Akito just slashed at Tohru. Despite Akito yelling at Tohru to stay back, Tohru starts thinking of things through Akito's lens, how this whole time, Akito must have been so lonely. She was marveled for being God, but because of that (and her lashing out but hush), no one ever wanted to be around her. She was told that she was above everyone else, and she treated them as such, and they did the same back to her.

Tohru mentioned how Akito always spoke of permanence, because it was the only thing that Akito ever had to hold onto. Akito lashes out at that (i don't think she cut Tohru, but Tohru does end up having two cuts, so i think this was the second, both times they were just on her arms), saying that Tohru doesn't know what she's talking about, she won't fall for Tohru's crap! She can't be won over by nice little words like everyone else (are you sure about that dude). Tohru doesn't really deny it, she agrees that she is dirty, and bad. She wished for her own permanence, to forever be with her mom, but that didn't and couldn't happen. She says that realizing this is very lonely, realizing that you can't make anything stay, you can't grab onto it with all your might and beg for it to stay, it will move on in its own time. This ends up further upsetting Akito, thinking back to Akira and what he said to her as a child. She screams that she doesn't want to be left behind, alone in this huge world of strangers who don't know or care about about, or need her. She's terrified, and she says there's no saying that someone could ever love her, she'll be all alone when the curse breaks. Tohru then offers to be her friend. (Honestly this scene is kinda heartbreaking for me, seeing Tohru all scuffed up with tears in her eyes, offering to be Akito's friend. This girl does so fucking much all the time, regardless of the fact that she just heard that the boy she loves was involved in some way to her mother's death, her personal crisis of Kyo becoming more important to her than Kyoko, and now she's cut up and bloody, probably soaked through by the rain, trying to console a thoroughly upset Akito, like,, jfc Tohru)

Akito smacks Tohru's outstretched hand, saying she's mocking her, that when Akito starts to get upset, she'll get irritated, when Akito complains, she'll get mad, she'll hate Akito, she'll abandon her, but Tohru just puts out a hand, offering to be Akito's friend regardless. And once Akito realizes that Tohru would totally be there for her if she needed Tohru, Tohru literally falls off a cliff. Kinda. Do you remember back in the beginning of the series when Shigure mentioned that the ground is kinda unstable, and that's why there was a landslide? This is the same kind of thing, the ground crumbled underneath Tohru, and she fell. The first time I read that scene, I wasn't entirely sure if it was a metaphorical thing or not. It was not.

After Tohru fell, Akito just started screaming (fair enough, honestly), screaming for someone to come help, anyone! Shigure and Yuki come (and off in the undisclosed distance, Kyo also hears the cries), and Shigure actually asks Akito if she pushed Tohru off. Akito manages to explain what happens, and Yuki calls an ambulance. Shigure takes Akito back to the house, and a little bit later Kyo comes back to the house, and overhears Shigure explaining things to Hatori over the phone, and fuckin bolts over to where Tohru is. She's unconscious, scuffed, with cuts and blood on her, and holy shit, remember that one dream Kyo had a while back? Yeah, well, this looks wayyy too close for comfort to that dream, and Kyo's pretty freaked out. Distantly, Tohru can hear him crying, and she's just like, "Don't cry, it'll be okay, there's no reason to cry." She thought about how she worried that her love for Kyo ended up hurting him, and she was sorry for that, but she couldn't help it. It's revealed that Tohru fell in love with Kyo around the time of the Dark Form/True Form thing was going down, I think when Kazuma first showed up. She wishes for Kyo to be able to live a full life, even if it's hard, even if they aren't together. (Very emotional stuff, really.)

The next day, Yuki sees Tohru's grandfather at the hospital (who is visiting Tohru as well), and he asks about "that orange-headed boy", and Yuki says he was just an idiot that has bad timing, and he made Tohru cry. He can make her happy better than anyone, and he did that. He stopped himself short, but Tohru's grandfather was like, "About that," and presumably told Yuki to fucking brawl with Kyo, because that's exactly what he did after hearing from Haru that Kyo didn't try to see to Tohru. Before the fists went flying, Yuki asked Kyo about it, and Kyo said it was for the better, that all he'd do was hurt Tohru further. He couldn't protect Tohru when she needed it, he didn't want to do further harm.

Now the scene has shifted to the hospital, with two people being stuck in bed: Tohru and Kureno. Kyo tries to see Tohru, to apologize, to talk, something, but Hanajima and Uotani are not having it. Hanajima points out that apologizing wouldn't even mean anything, because Tohru doesn't blame Kyo for anything that happened. Hanajima says that there's other things that Kyo needs to do before he can see Tohru. Certain Things, and honestly I'm not sure if she was just bullshitting and using her ominousness to her advantage or if she actually knew something, but Kyo agreed (internally, anyway): there was something he had to do before seeing Tohru again.

Yuki might as well have said that was complete and utter bullshit, who does Kyo fuckin think he is? A goddamn superhero, able to fly in the second Tohru's in trouble? Doesn't he see the way Tohru acts around him? The way she smiles whenever he's near? Kyo's shocked by that, but he doesn't like the way Yuki said it, so he asked why couldn't Yuki do it (this is actually out of order but shh), he's already so perfect and shit. Basically, he's finally saying that he has always envied Yuki, because it just seemed like he got everything that Kyo wanted, especially when they were kids. Through the flying kicks and punches, Yuki says the same thing, but in the end, he can only be himself, same thing for Kyo. Neither of them (or anyone else) can be anything other than themselves, and sometimes there are things that only one person can do. In this case, only Kyo can kinda,, make her happy, I guess. I think that was the implication, which is nice. Kyo then goes off to see Tohru at the hospital, but the visiting hours are over, but y'know it's the thought that counts, right?

(Meanwhile) (btw how many times do these kinda things wreck Shigure's house like can they not take these things outside or something)

On the part of Uotani and Hanajima (and really everyone else who is visiting Tohru at this time), there's another level to keeping Kyo out: it's that everyone kinda knows that Tohru might be a little messed up if she did see Kyo again so soon after that whole shpeal that happened before Akito showed up. Tohru had a bomb dropped on her, and then she helped Akito calm down, and then she fell off a cliff; she didn't have any time to process the things that Kyo told her, especially that last line of his, the whole, "I'm disillusioned" thing, which all the significance that I personally can find within it is that he said that he wouldn't be disillusioned when Tohru was telling him about her father, but there really seems to be a bigger thing here that I'm not getting, idk. Anyway, there's that whole mess as well. Besides from that, there also seems to be this idea, I guess, that once Tohru is around Kyo again, they won't really be apart, so this is kinda like the last few moments with just Tohru? Or something? Hanajima and Uotani were talking about how Kyo's gonna "steal Tohru away", and seeing as Tohru is their close friend, I suppose it makes sense, from a selfish perspective (but not in a bad way), that they would want to "have" Tohru as long as they could.

Meanwhile (y'know that 60s Batman scene transition thing? That's always what I imagine when I write that, with the music included. Imagine how annoying it'd be if I put in a gif of it every time), Akito is having a Struggle Moment. She's at the hospital, and holy fuck is she guilty about stabbing Kureno, which is nice she totally should be it'd be really concerning if she wasn't, and Momiji pops up and asks if Akito came to see Kureno or Tohru (oof that guilt it's now been doubled), and Akito bursts out with confusion: why doesn't Kureno blame her?! He could've (should've-- wait what) blamed her, gotten angry, something?? Momiji says that it's because Kureno and Tohru (because Akito also visits Tohru) are that kind of stupid: they just don't blame people for things, they're always allowing for forgiveness. So why question it, why not just accept that Kureno isn't angry at her, isn't blaming her, just accept the kindness.

Akito thinks back on when she visited Kureno, and he asked her if she was okay. She thinks that if she had said she wasn't, that Kureno would have gone back to her side, and stayed with her, despite what she had done to him. He would stay with her until she no longer needed him, because he just has that kind of unselfish kindness. This kindness, in retrospect, doesn't make Akito feel much better though, as she thinks (realizes?) that she's basically been killing him, this whole time (before the stabbing, of course). No apology could fix this, no matter what Kureno would say, Akito wouldn't ever stop feeling bad for what she had said and done, not to him but to the other Juunishi as well (I suppose the Sohma family as a whole, honestly). Momiji just says that Akito has to take care of Kureno from now on, and to make sure that she doesn't do something like this again. Then he tells Akito a story (i don't get to hear it and that makes me quite sad ngl) and later Akito visits Tohru. But that'll be talked about later. Now we're talking about

(60s Batman transition sound) Yuki! And the other people in the student council. Kakeru mentions how the school is abuzz with what happened to Tohru, and how rumor has it that Kyo's the one who got her in the hospital. (Yuki doesn't really deny that, btw) Unsurprisingly, it's not really something that he has talked about, seeing as it's not very casual conversation, and it is a bit of a downer, but he realizes that he's not too upset by it. (By that I mean the overall recent series of events, not solely Tohru's accident) I guess violence is the answer, sometimes.

Kimi then asks what Yuki's relationship with Tohru even is, and Kakeru, unfiltered as usual, just drops, "She's like his mom, in his mind" as if that wasn't something that Yuki was struggling with for a long time??? Whatever dude, but one day Yuki'll probably have his revenge. At any rate, there were a lot of shots to Machi doing her thing, so if it wasn't already clear from the story so far, Yuki likes Machi. If you hadn't picked that up, it's a whole thing.

Anyway, later on Yuki and Kakeru are looking for get-well gifts for Tohru, and Kakeru just straight up says, "If I don't know what to give to someone, I'll just choose something I like, so that if they don't like it, I can take it, and I'll like it," which, as it turns out, Machi does the same thing. (That comes later but it's the not most important thing so shh) After getting a gift, Kakeru says that he's going to visit Tohru, but he insists on doing it alone, and so Yuki wanders off, walking down the street (he's makin his way downtown, walkin fast, faces pass), and he thinks about how, when he was in big crowds, he used to wonder, if he disappeared, would anyone really notice? Now though, that's not really a worry. He knows that there is at least one person who would notice, who would be worried if he disappeared. And holy shmow, he just found the perfect gift for her! He calls up Machi, and they meet up at a train station, I think, I'm pretty sure it's a train station idk I've never been in one, and it turns out that she got a gift for him as well. (It's fertilizer, remember back to that scene, with the,, yeah. Ok.)

The gift is a big Mogeta doll (probably like a stuffed animal), like the one that Ayame had in his shop, except he had the gall to write on it? Machi said that it was a limited exclusive item, but Yuki managed to find it (for a fair price too, apparently), and she really likes it. She says she'd like to thank Tohru for what she's done to help Yuki become who he is presently, that she's really glad that she was able to meet Yuki, because without him, she definitely wouldn't be the person she is today. It was some super soft stuff, there were plenty of "aw"s when I read that whole interaction. They're so fucking cute, it's great.

Anyway, other than Kakeru asking Hatori what he ate to look that handsome (which is something I still can't get over), there wasn't much else to the book, so I'll finally end this (I took several days in between writing this it's inexcusable). Yay ✨✨

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shardweavers · 4 years ago

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Chapter Sixteen - Memories on the Tides

The trip from Lakeland had started out quiet. The fishing boat was a medium-sized ship, with a few cabins for a small crew. The trip would likely take the evening to navigate from the Source to Venmont Yards. Emet-Selch's money had gotten them closer to Eulmore, but that still meant going to the docks at the shipyard. The only way straight to the city was via an airship. While there had been talks of an airship route between the Crystarium and Eulmore, and visits from Chai-Nuzz to the Crystal Exarch, the implementation of the actual trip was still a ways off.

Emet-Selch had been first to board Dadfort's vessel. Shoto was next, then Yuki, and finally Sumire. The four split into two groups, each taking a crew cabin. Emet-Selch was assigned to share a cabin with Sumire, while Yuki would share a cabin with Shoto. The Viera stood firm on this arrangement, and took Shoto's bag from Sumire.

"We'll meet you in the kitchen where we can talk about what to do once we're in Kholusia. For now, go put your things away." Yuki directed, taking up a leadership role for the moment. Shoto let herself be led off to their cabin, not wanting to fight right now.

Sumire turned to look at the Ascian, only to wince and rub at his right eye. He looked away immediately, then headed toward the other cabin. "Come on, it's best to listen to Yuki when she's this insistent."

"I haven't anything I care to put away," the Ascian replied, not following after the Dragoon.

Sumire stopped, then looked back, making sure only his left eye could see him. "Then at least come choose your bed. I'll put my things on the other one and we can go meet them in the kitchen."

Hades looked to the Miqo'te, then gave a dramatic sigh as he moved to follow him. "Very well. I suppose you make a point."

* * * The kitchen, for what it was worth, was mostly just that; a table and chairs for crewmembers to eat while at sea. It served as a good meeting place, though, and Dadfort was currently making a bit of food and coffee for everyone. He had one crewmember with him for the trip, and had entrusted them with navigation above deck until everyone was settled. They had overheard Dadfort telling his First Mate that he'd take over once they'd left the Source and were into the Divide proper.

The four passengers sat silently around the table as the ship headed across the lake; Dadfort sat plates in front of Shoto and Yuki with a smile, then went back to get two more plates for Sumire and Emet-Selch. Shoto sniffed at the food before her, and her expression seemed to brighten instantly. It looked really fancy to her for a quick meal; crab cakes, with some quickly grilled mixed vegetables beside them. Yuki poked at her crab cakes with a fork as Dadfort gave the boys their food. Hades wrinkled his nose a bit at the simplistic meal, but Sumire looked impressed. His ears flicked and he moved to eat immediately. Shoto also dug in once the others had their food. Yuki sighed quietly and began to eat the vegetables; she watched the Ascian poke at the food as if uncertain.

"Venmont Yards isn't far from Eulmore," Dadfort broke the awkward silence. "It's the closest dock to the city, and the least distance you'd need to walk without an airship up." He brought a tray to the table with 4 cups of coffee, some cream and sugar. "We're heading straight there, but it will still take some time to cross the Divide to Kholusia. Whenever you get tired, feel free to sleep. Likely won't get there 'til morning."

"We're grateful for your hospitality, my good man," Emet-Selch smiled at the Galdjent fisherman.

"Least I could do is provide some food after making you wait longer for the ship than I meant to." He smiled and gestured to the coffee tray. "Please take your time eating. I'm gonna head above deck and trade off with my First Mate so's he can eat too." The captain headed off with another tray. It held two more plates and cups of coffee. He seemed a bit better now that they were on the water, though he had repeated that he wouldn't stay longer than simply dropping them off.

As soon as they were alone, Yuki used her fork to point at Emet-Selch. "What's wrong with your dinner? Not fancy enough for your exacting tastes?"

"You haven't touched the meat either, Viera."

"I'm still eating," she made a face. Sumire and Shoto silently looked to one another, then both reached for a cup of coffee; they'd eaten half of their crab cakes already. Yuki continued to watch the Ascian; he once again made an uncertain face, and used his fork to poke at what was on his plate... without eating any of it. Yuki ate the rest of her vegetables, leaving only the crab cake. She looked to Shoto, then to Sumire; both of them finished the crab cakes already, though Shoto was taking her time on the veggies. Sumire's plate was empty, and he held his coffee cup against him with both hands.

Yuki realized she'd never seen him turn down any sort of food, even if she felt unsure about it. She was also used to being last to finish... perhaps that was why she futzed about? There wasn't anything particularly odd about the crab cakes; she'd had them before in Limsa Lominsa. These did smell different, but they didn't smell bad.

'You're overthinking it, Yuki, just eat your crab! ' She silently yelled at herself. She started to eat her cakes with a frustrated pout.

Sumire blinked at her, then silently chuckled into his cup. His reaction drew Emet-Selch's attention; the Ascian raised an eyebrow as he looked between the male Miqo'te and the female Viera.

Shoto looked up from her remaining veggies, to Emet-Selch, then to Sumire, then to Yuki. She tilted her head; she didn't quite understand the look the Ascian was giving them.

"Did I miss something...?" Shoto bit her fork. Sumire looked over to her, then to Emet-Selch. He blushed a little as he looked back to Shoto.

"I just found Yuki's pouty eating funny, it wasn't really anything... vital."

"It isn't pouty, Sumire, I was just unfocused!"

"It also looked like a pout to me, Emet-Selch added, in a flat voice. Yuki glared at him, as she managed to keep herself from blushing too much.

The Ascian shrugged, then looked back to the food in front of him. It wasn't fancy, that was true, but neither was the sandwich he ate last night. He'd certainly eaten worse meals.

"You should eat too," Shoto pouted.

Emet-Selch looked up, then back to the food. No one else seemed to react to her words, and it had felt directed... maybe he'd just been distracted. He gave her a dramatic little sigh, then replied playfully, "Well, if you insist."

It had been an exchange out loud, but her feelings had pushed the point home. Yuki seemed focused on Sumire, who had finished his coffee and seemed to be staring at the cup. Emet-Selch made a show of forcing himself to eat, but it wasn't much of one; he found he liked the taste, and decided to simply finish the food.

The rest of dinner went on in mostly silence. When the Ascian finished, he stood up to leave. Sumire looked up, a bit of hesitance in his voice, “You heading back to the room then?”

Emet-Selch rolled his eyes at the question, “Fret not, the room is all yours.” The Ascian did not elaborate any further on his decision, he simply waved a hand as he wandered off.

Yuki frowned as she shook her head. The distrust of the Ascian was still clear on her face, but a tired look from Sumire caused her to frown. “Perhaps, it's best if we all retire to our rooms... we've got a long night ahead of us.”

Shoto nodded in agreement and scooted her chair back. "We should be sure to thank Dadfort for the meal and the ride in the morning." She smiled a bit, then turned to head off. Yuki and Sumire both made a sound in agreement.

The group moved back towards the crew cabins they were staying in. Sumire stopped at the one he was now staying in alone, as the two girls continued on to the further cabin. Yuki paused for a moment at their cabin door, then looked back to Sumire with concern. “If you need anything, you know where our room is…” A blush spread across her cheeks, “N-Not that you would... need anything from us. Whatever.” With a pout, Yuki stormed past Shoto, into their room. The female Miqo'te blinked, then giggled and waved good night to the male Miqo'te.

Sumire gave a tired smile in response, and pushed into the dark cabin. He barely got his door shut, then fumbled with his shirt as he stumbled over to the bed he'd picked earlier. He didn't so much crawl into bed as collapse onto it. Sleep encroached upon him quickly. His eyelids felt heavy as he almost instantly drifted off to sleep.

He could hear the ocean; at least, it certainly sounded like it; it was certainly a lot of water nearby. The smell was more enclosed, almost like a cave, but... drier. Sumire swore he had been in bed only a moment ago... he remembered crawling into it, barely managing to take most of his clothes off first. It felt like he was on something much more solid than that; a rock?

He could hear someone approaching wherever he was; hurried footsteps on solid rock, it sounded like. The person beside him moved closer to his ear, as their hand rested on his shoulder and arm.

"Theia, wake up."

I've heard that name before...

He felt hands on his arm gently shaking him, as the same voice repeated their call.

"Theia, you've been dreaming for a while now. It's time to wake up."

...dreaming...?

"Mmm, Khione, surely I couldn't have been away that long," Sumire heard a female voice answer. It had felt like he had spoken the words, but... he knew he hadn't. The male Miqo'te paused, as he felt someone help him sit up on the rock that he could feel beneath him.

This was so very strange... it was almost like the Echo, yet... it didn't feel right to him.

"Khione... did you happen to see my blindfold on the way here?" The female voice asked, as Sumire felt himself stand. "I lost it somewhere along the path here..."

"No, I hadn't. I'll help you find it on the way back, Theia." Khione replied, apologetically. "And if we can't find it, I'll just get you a new one."

"Thank you," Theia responded, as she took hold of Khione's arm.

This is... not... a dream... is it...?

Sumire realized he wasn't in control of the things he felt, heard, and said... yet... he felt conscious. It was very confusing. He quickly realized the sensations he felt were familiar to him; whoever 'Theia' was, she was blind.

He'd had to learn to sense the world the same way after he'd barely survived the dragon's attack. His right eye was completely blind for years, until he began training as a Dragoon. During that training, he had learned to sense aether and had regained a partial sight that vastly improved his reaction time. He then found he could also use the dragon's blood to see with his right eye more clearly, and that took moons to balance and adjust to.

...He hadn't thought about any of this in a long time.

His focus was pulled back as he felt hands running through his hair; makeshift combing. Yuki had done it to him before, when he'd made them late.

"Your hair is a mess , Theia." Khione's voice playfully scolded.

Sumire let out a breath, as Theia fidgeted, and he decided to relax, and see where this would go.

"That tends to happen," Theia reached up to fluff her own hair; short in the back, with two longer pieces in the front. She wore a slightly oversized robe, which she fixed, then pulled the hood of it up onto her head.

"We were to meet Persephone for tea, if you recall." Khione took Theia's hand to lead her forward. "She said she has someone for us to meet."

"Oh?" Theia perked up, and smiled, "Another star?"

"That's the impression she and Krystallos gave." Khione lifted her hands, and Theia cautiously tapped her foot to find a few rock steps down.

"I wonder what they're like."

"I'm sure they're as unique as we are," Khione said, her grin evident in her voice.

Theia chuckled as they headed along a stone path. She let go of Khione's arm, hurried ahead a few paces, then turned and slowly walked backwards. "I'm glad we were delayed in leaving again. I've almost memorized the whole city... it's such a big, wonderful place."

"You've seemed happier lately," Khione hurried her pace to match Theia's. "Perhaps tonight we could take a walk somewhere you've yet to memorize?"

"I'd like that," Theia smiled, then paused. She turned her head towards a sound and scent that were familiar.

"Persephone, we were just coming to tea. Whatever is the matter?" Khione sounded concerned.

"I'm so sorry. The person I wanted you to meet ran off."

"Are they okay? We don't bite," Theia joked.

Persephone chuckled quietly, then took a moment to catch her breath before she continued. "I don't know. There was a terrible sound, and he panicked. Krystallos went after him... I came to find you both. Have you heard or seen anything?"

"I didn't see anything on the way here," Khione trailed off a bit, thoughtfully.

Theia frowned, "I smell brimstone... and there was a deep growl in the wind." She turned her head into the wind, "The wind is coming from the... park, if I recall my directions."

"We should go," Persephone moved even as she decided. "Carefully."

Khione took Theia's hand, and moved to follow her, "If we find whatever made the noise and scent you caught, I'll find you a safe place for you to stay before I go to help Persephone. Okay?"

"Okay." Theia shifted her hold to Khione's arm, and they sped up a bit.

They hadn't run long before Theia slowed, and coughed. Khione turned to check on her immediately.

"What's wrong?"

"The brimstone smell," she coughed, then reached a hand up to her mouth and nose, "it's mixed with a smoky smell... and it's really strong." Another cough into her hand was followed by a deep growl.

"That sound came from that way," Persephone said, worriedly. "I can't tell if it's coming from the city or heading towards it, though."

"Theia, stay here." Khione hurriedly led her to a large, sturdy tree, then placed her hands on the trunk. "We'll go see what it is making that sound and smell."

Theia nodded, as she coughed again, then frowned. She felt a silk cloth placed into her hand, then lifted her head a bit.

"Take this, it should help with the smell that's bothering you."

"B-But... Persephone... isn't this... your scarf?"

"If it helps you, then I don't mind." Persephone absolutely beamed, as she gently pushed Theia's hand with the scarf. "Stay here, we'll be right back, okay?"

"Th-Thank you." Theia nodded gratefully, then hurriedly tied the scarf around her face to cover her nose and mouth. The smell instantly muted, and she no longer felt the strong urge to cough. She shifted to hold onto the tree, and listened carefully for any signs of trouble or anything she needed to run from.

Her thoughts turned to dreams, and she frowned; her fingers gripped the trunk a little. She scrunched her nose a little, then shook her head. "That dream still haunts me. A city of fire. Alone in the flames. Why do I keep seeing it...?" Theia frowned, then quietly rested her head against the tree. She spoke quietly to herself after a thoughtful moment, "Khione, I worry... is it... because of what happened... then...?" Her thoughts trailed off as she caught the sudden sound of splashing in the distance, followed by faint crying, and a whimper. "I wonder... if that's who we were supposed to meet...?" She turned her head a bit, then sniffed. "Hm...?" She sniffed again, through the scarf...

"Wait... This is near the gazebo we've met at before! I can smell that odd tree from here... even over the brimstone scent." Theia smiled a bit at her recognition, then left the tree. She hurried forward; one hand reaching out for a railing she knew should be around.

It turned out to be further away than she had expected, but she reached the familiar gazebo, and hurried up the few stairs to sit on a bench. The sounds of snarling and items breaking made her flinch, but she took a deep breath and closed her eyes to focus. Her left hand came up to hold her right shoulder as her head lowered.

Sumire felt a sudden shift, and flinched as he suddenly saw the strange vision. He adjusted quickly, and felt Theia relax here.

Before them lay a vast field of colors and shapes. He realized these places and images were distorted to him, but to her, they were perfectly normal... He felt they were things that brought her comfort. She knew precisely where she was in the space, and precisely where to go.

I recognize... some of these colors. They're the unchanging shades of aether for flora.

He touched the scar over his right eye.

...She can see... aether...?

He felt confused. It was how he balanced his sight, and therefore used all the time since he learned it. The dragon's blood helped balance the cost of that method, but came with occasional unbidden visions from the dragon. He knew Y'shtola was permanently blind from her time in the lifestream, and she used that method now all the time. So he wondered, if Theia could do it as well, why wasn't she always using her aether sight to navigate...?

He was solely interested in what lay before him. He no longer wondered what this was nor why he was seeing it, but instead, what would happen. Once more his wandering thoughts were interrupted, as he felt Theia stand, then walk over to a large, dark shape. She calmly reached out to place her hands on its head, as she quietly hummed what he recognized as a sort of lullaby. He didn't remember hearing it before... but it still felt familiar.

The big shape growled, then slowly curled up on the ground, as it fell asleep. Once it had stopped moving, Theia turned to hurry back to her seat, just in time for Khione's worried voice beside her.

"Theia?"

"Hmm?" Theia shifted towards the voice. Her arm lowered onto her lap, and pulled the scarf off her face on the way. Khione put an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her in.

After some hurried scuffling, Theia heard Persephone greet Hades, followed by a soft sigh and a snap. She heard crackling of a crystal substance she associated with a cage, or a prison the guards would use on stray creations.

"Where have you been, Hythlodaeus?" Hades asked, exasperated.

"I went to get people to help transport the escapee back!" His grin was evident in his barely held-back chuckle. "C'mon, I knew you had it, Hades." He moved towards the sleeping, crystal-prisoned creature with a flourish of his robe. "And you did!"

Hades sighed, then also moved towards the sleeping creature. "It's quite strange that a wild creature like this managed to escape from Lahabrea's lab... I'll have to have another talk with him about letting experiments get away."

"Th-That... That one... w-was mine," a new voice spoke meekly. "But... I-I don't know why... it would be... here."

"Is that why you ran from the sound, Asopus?" Persephone asked, as she turned toward the two boys.

"I-I'm sorry. It... It was instinct. Th-The sound... scared me," he whimpered, "I thought I'd screwed up again... I-It should have been sealed in Anamnesis!"

Krystallos frowned, concerned, then hugged the younger man comfortingly. "It's okay, Asopus."

"Why was it sealed there ...?" Hades mumbled. The guards shrank the large crystal prison to a more manageable size, then marked it with a caution symbol before transporting it away. It had happened before, Theia knew exactly what they did. She wondered why something that large and potentially dangerous had been loose in the city in the first place, but the danger was over for now; she could always ponder things later.

Hythlodaeus moved to follow the guards, "I'll handle your paperwork, dear friend~! You spend the afternoon with your beloved!" He then chuckled as he hurried off. Persephone ran over to hug Hades in greeting, as Asopus reassured Krystallos he was better now.

Theia blinked her eyes open, then leaned against Khione tiredly. The older woman ran her hand over the younger one's short, blond hair.

Khione spoke quietly, a slightly scolding tone to her voice, "You know how much that takes out of you, Theia. Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I was worried!" Theia leaned her head towards Khione's hand. "It's okay, I knew where I was. I could smell the strange tree that's always in the park."

Khione paused, then looked around, "The strange tree...? There's no odd trees in the park, Theia."

"Yes there is, I can smell it. It's always here when we're here. It's very distinct." Theia took in a deep breath. She then pointed over towards Hades and Persephone, "It's that way. That strange tree is always here, so I know I'm in the park."

There was a moment of silence as Khione looked between Theia and where she was pointing. After a few moments, Theia hadn't changed her position nor said she was joking... and Khione laughed. She drew attention to the two in the gazebo.

Theia pouted, "What's so funny?"

"Theia, you're pointing at Hades," Khione barely managed between chuckles. She hugged the younger woman, who blinked, then took another sniff of the air.

"Hades smells like a tree?"

"Apparently to you. Oh, Theia," Khione continued to laugh, as Theia blushed, then began to laugh with her. She laced her fingers with Khione as she did so, then leaned into her shoulder.

Hades, Persephone, Krystallos, and Asopus weren't able to hear anything but the girls' laughter from where they were, but Hades had seen her point at him. He sighed again, then hugged Persephone as he mumbled about her odd friends. She just snickered in response.

"Are you sure you're okay, Yuki?" Shoto asked, worriedly; her eyes drawn to the unconscious Dragoon on the Summoner's back. Yuki simply nodded and gave an affirmative sound. "Any ideas what's wrong?"

Yuki shook her head, "No... there's only been one other time I had to carry him like this, but he was very sick then." She just continued forward as she replied. Shoto frowned, then hurried on ahead to keep pace with Emet-Selch. Yuki looked to Sumire's violet hair, and mumbled to herself. "...I'm just... worried about you, Sumi."

He whimpered quietly, and shifted. Yuki looked surprised, then cleared her throat as Sumire reached up to his head.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Yuki spoke, which alerted Shoto and Emet-Selch to the Dragoon's movements.

"Sumire! Are you alright?" Shoto asked as she hurried back. The Dragoon flicked his ears, then lifted his head to look at her.

"Wh... Where am I...?" He looked up a bit, then sounded confused, "Kho...lusia...? H-How long... have I been... out...?"

"Since whenever you fell asleep last night," Yuki replied for her.

Shoto nodded, "We couldn't wake you up when we arrived this morning. You had us worried!" Her tone was scared, yet he could tell she was relieved to be talking to him. Sumire blinked, then frowned as he lowered his head.

"I... I'm sorry," he flinched, then reached to cover his right eye; his chin dug into Yuki's shoulder a little. Shoto gently patted Sumire's head, then hurried forward to keep pace with Emet-Selch once more. She relayed the info to the Ascian as Yuki shook her head.

The Viera slowed a little, to put more distance between them and the Ascian. "Are you really alright, Sumire...?" Her voice shook a little as she asked, despite her best efforts not to.

Sumire frowned, "I'm... not sure. I don't... remember much about last night. I know... we were on the boat. I remember feeling tired after I ate. I had," he trailed off, then lowered his arm to half hug Yuki's shoulders. "...I had a strange dream."

Yuki frowned, then looked forward again, "Was it one of those dreams?"

"N-No," Sumire stuttered, as he shook his head. He had always told her his 'bad feelings' came from 'the dragon's dreams'. They were what made him wary of situations... and helped them avoid trouble sometimes. This hadn't been anything like that, though... He looked up, then flinched as he looked to Shoto and Emet-Selch, "No, it... I-I'm sorry... for making you... take care of me."

"It's fine," she shifted him a little on her back, "We couldn't very well leave you behind."

"Y-You can... let me off... a-at the aetheryte shard near the entrance. I don't... I don't think I can... make the trek up to it yet." He let go of Yuki's shoulders with one arm, and once again held his head, favoring covering his right eye.

She frowned in response, then lowered her head a little. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll take the stairs up. We'll find you a place in the parlor to sit and rest."

"But--"

"No buts. I won't have you passing out again because you used the aethernet while low on aether."

Sumire blinked, low on aether...? He hadn't thought that might be the problem... was that... what someone had noticed?

Yuki noticed his silence. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad...?" He lowered his arm, then looked down to the path. "I... I hadn't thought of that... being my issue. I should have listened to you when you noticed something was wrong... I'm sorry."

Yuki shook her head as they passed some familiar faces in Gatetown. Most people left them alone, though, even though they could see one of the group being carried. Things were still slow to change, but it didn't seem to bother the Viera. Shoto turned to look back at the two worriedly. Yuki simply nodded and gave her a small, reassuring smile to let her keep going. "Do you remember Ala Mhigo, Sumire?"

"Which... part?"

Yuki gave a nostalgic smile, then glanced at his face for a moment. She took a breath and looked up to the gates ahead of them, "I carried you for a long distance to keep us ahead of the Imperials. You were sick with that terrible fever, but we couldn't stay still. We were the last two left from our group, and they chased us all the way to Kugane."

"I... remember some of that... I was... very out of it then," Sumire mumbled, with a blush.

Yuki chuckled, then nodded, "I took care of you for a week, and didn't stop until we'd found a way to get to Doma..." She frowned, "I didn't want either of us caught... I was so grateful for the Doman Resistance. They didn't have to help us, but... they helped take care of your fever."

"I remember waking up to that Doman girl poking my arm," he mumbled into Yuki's shoulder.

"She was worried! You had been asleep for two days straight," Yuki chuckled, then trailed off. She looked down as they approached the steps up to the entrance of Eulmore. "I was... scared that would happen again. The way you've been acting lately... when we couldn't wake you after we arrived at Venmont Yards... all I could think of was that I had to get you to Eulmore. That Alphinaud might be able to help. Shoto couldn't find anything wrong with you." She briefly glanced up to the guards. They greeted the group as they passed through the door. Shoto and Emet-Selch headed off to head up the stairs, and they seemed to be caught up in a conversation. Yuki wasn't paying much attention to them nor where she was walking. She was distracted enough that she just kept going forward without stopping. Sumire didn't seem to notice either.

"Thank you... Khione," The Dragoon jerked as the name left his mouth. He reached up to cover his mouth, then sounded confused. "Wh... Why did I say that...?"

Yuki wanted to ask who Khione was, but she felt like she should already know that somehow, and never spoke the question. She stopped as she looked up to see they were by the elevator, and blinked. "Ah, I went too far. I wasn't paying attention." Sumire looked ready to be sick, with his hand over his mouth. Yuki looked a bit worn from their conversation.

"Good morning, ma'am! You seem to need the elevator," a Mystel guard spoke up, even as a Hume turned his head away. The Mystel turned to open the doors for Yuki, and gave her an apologetic smile. "This will take you the whole way up. Please relax."

Yuki heard the Hume grumble something, but it was incoherent.

The Mystel seemed to understand him though, then hissed, "Quiet. "

"Thank you," Yuki replied, quietly, and accepted the elevator trip. Sumire stayed silent until they were alone, on the way up.

"You can let me down."

"Sumire."

"I'll take my time walking, and I will sit in the parlor while you go find Alphinaud. If Y'shtola has arrived, I'm sure they're talking." Sumire shifted, and Yuki carefully let go of his legs. He caught himself on the elevator handrail, then leaned against the wall. "Thank you... Yuki. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"Nonsense," she crossed her arms, as she stared at the doors before them. "I don't mind making sure you're okay... Sumi."

The Miqo'te Dragoon fidgeted, his tail flick back and forth thoughtfully. Sumire then looked up to Yuki, but couldn't find any words to say. He felt guilty for the trouble he'd caused, and that he hadn't told Yuki how he truly felt. His eye was making him dizzy, he was having trouble focusing, and he had felt more exhausted than ever after they left. His ears pinned back, "I didn't want anyone to worry about me... and... instead, I made you all worry about me more. I hadn't thought that my problems could be aether-related, I just... I thought I was doing something wrong. I tried to push through it and take care of it myself, but... that hasn't worked. I don't know what to do now."

"We'll figure out what's going on. Perhaps Y'shtola might have an insight to your aether problem. I'll ask her after we've caught up on everything."

"Yuki... I passed out on you when I was asleep." Sumire stood up, his tail flicked in annoyance with himself. "That's... That's not just a simple problem. I can't just try to sleep more and eat better."

"Maybe it has something to do with your eye," Yuki frowned, but she stayed staring at the door ahead of her. Questions formed in her mind; what she could ask of Y'shtola.

"I feel like I want to sleep for days..." Yuki stiffened her shoulders at his admission. Her ear twitched as he continued, "There's a part of me that's not surprised you couldn't wake me... but... that dream I had while unconscious confuses me. I saw..." He trailed off. Yuki finally turned to look down to him.

"...You saw what, Sumire...?"

"I saw... nothing. Except... near the end. I saw what looked like a hallucination. It was just... colors and shapes then. Everything else was... sounds. Smells. Sensations."

"That's... an odd dream."

"Yuki..."

"Hm...?"

Sumire flicked his ears, then looked up to her, concerned. His right eye was closed, as if it bothered him. "It felt like when I was younger. Right after I was hurt."

"When you... lost... your sight...?" She looked to his right eye, and he nodded once.

"They weren't sure if I'd be able to see again, so they covered both of my eyes until the wound healed. I lived like that for a few years. They figured that I'd been completely blinded and never bothered to check... I just... accepted that."

Yuki nearly forgot where they were, and turned to look at Sumire fully. She only knew pieces of his past. He'd never hidden the fact that his eye was technically blind, but she didn't know that much detail. "They eventually learned you could still see then?"

"S-Sort of. The Matron wanted to see if I could get rid of the blindfold. My left eye was very sensitive to light for nearly a moon until it adjusted to being used again. I felt very lucky I had retained any sight, but... it took a long time to adjust..."

"This dream of yours felt like that, then...?"

"It was the dream of someone who had no sight. Everything else was amplified to make up for that. The pieces I could see anything in, were so fanciful and colorful, as if the person had never seen what anything was really like, but... I," he trailed off, his tail curled the other way, and he touched his chest. "I felt like I knew what everything was supposed to be... even if I don't quite remember every little detail now."

"Maybe it was just your mind remembering something from then. You were unconscious." Yuki explained. Sumire shook his head before he had a chance to think about her reply, but he took a moment to think.

"I... I heard..."

Yuki tilted her head as he hesitated. Even she could hear the bustle from the Canopy as the elevator slowed, and glanced to the doors. "You heard what, Sumire?"

"...Emet-Selch."

The doors opened with a ding, as the elevator stopped. Yuki couldn't respond, as Shoto called for them, worriedly. Yuki took Sumire's arm to help him walk out of the elevator. He accepted her help and let her choose what seat he would sit in.

"I was so worried when I looked back and realized you two weren't behind us. I was going to take the elevator back down. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Shoto. One of the guards down below let us use the elevator to come up. We took the offer. I'm sorry we worried you." Yuki smiled. Shoto shook her head and sat across from Sumire at the table.

"Sumire, are you feeling better?"

"I-I'll be okay. However, I promised Yuki I'd wait here for you to find Alphinaud. I won't go anywhere, I promise," he smiled at her, reassuringly.

Shoto pouted a little, then nodded and pointed a finger at him. "Okay, but I'll hold you to that!"

He blinked, then smiled a little and nodded, "If I don't behave, I expect both you and Yuki to let me have it." He gave Shoto a small chuckle, then looked out to the ocean. He seemed immediately distracted, and the female Miqo'te stood up to look at Yuki.

"Any idea where," Yuki paused, then glanced around, "...where our other... associate... is?"

"He... said he didn't want to cause trouble up here... in case someone recognized him." Shoto frowned, then crossed her arms, "So he went back down for a walk. That's how I realized you two weren't behind us on the stairs."

Yuki frowned, disapprovingly. "I feel like we shouldn't let him out of our sight."

"He won't leave." Shoto immediately argued, then blushed slightly. "That is. He promised me he'd stay around the area before he headed off..."

Yuki frowned more, then looked to Shoto for a moment before she gave up for now. She looked past Shoto, "Alright, alright... but do we have any ideas where Alphinaud might be?"

"He may be in a morning meeting with Chai-Nuzz upstairs. We could ask?"

"Hey. Come to think of it... that guard said the elevator would take us all the way to the top, but it stopped here..."

"That's probably just a habit. It's been a long time since anyone could freely go upstairs, remember?" Shoto turned to head off. She spied Alphinaud heading over to the parlor with Chai-Nuzz and cheered up immediately. "There he is! I was right!" She wiggled her ears proudly, then turned to look at Yuki. The Viera had looked back to Sumire in the moment of silence. Shoto pouted, then tugged her arm. "Yuki, c'mon. Let's go check in with Alphinaud."

"Eh?" She blinked, then looked away from the Dragoon, and spied Alphinaud; who had caught sight of them across the way, and waved. Shoto happily waved back and headed off. Yuki hesitated, but followed her a moment later.

None of us meant for this update to take over a month. @_@; It feels like the time literally just blew past. But! Here's Chapter 16 for all of you lovely starlings. Angel's computer is having issues, so the art of Theia that she'd been working on for the Amarout portion of this chapter got lost. :( As always, thank you all for your support and patience!

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